China uneasy as North Korea prepares new missile launch

CHINA has bolstered defences on the North Korean border amid reports Pyongyang could be preparing to carry out another missile launch.

Military officials in the US and South Korea have warned that North Korea appears to be preparing to carry out a new missile launch.

Last night security experts were speculating the missile could be launched imminently – today marks the 64th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that brought the Korean War to an uneasy truce.

China has been building up defences along its border with North Korea, a report says, amid tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.

Beijing has established a new border brigade, built bunkers to protect civilians against nuclear blasts, and set up 24-hour surveillance along its frontier, The Wall Street Journal said.

China has also realigned its forces in the country’s north east, added the report, which cites Chinese military and government websites and Chinese and foreign experts.

Officials in Beijing regularly call for a peaceful solution to the North Korean issue, but Donald Trump, the US president, is growing increasingly impatient with Kim Jong-un’s regime.

Pentagon officials told Reuters that they have detected increased activity at a site in the city of Kusŏng, on the west of the Korean peninsula, that suggests another launch is planned.

They added that the weapon may be another intercontinental ballistic missile, following the successful launch of one earlier this month.